


This is the Way the World Ends

by LostInTheWood



Category: Original Work, The Hollow Men - T. S. Eliot
Genre: Death, Dystopia, End of the World, Gen, How Do I Tag, Inspired by The Hollow Men, Isolation, POV First Person, Wordcount: 500-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26336863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostInTheWood/pseuds/LostInTheWood
Summary: Mr Kurtz was the first, but more die by the day.





	This is the Way the World Ends

_ "Mistah Kurtz-he dead" _

Old Mr Kurtz was the first person I knew who died. He lived just down the road from my house and used to grow grapes in his back yard that he would give away to everyone. I didn't like them much; they had a robust flavour. Mr Kurtz was great though. He acted as everybody's uncle, always giving a smile and a wave to anyone who came by.

I had not seen Mr Kurtz in a couple of days, no one had, so when the ambulance came, we were all worried. At the time, no one really knew just how bad it was going to get.

Mr Kurtz was the first, but more die by the day.

_ "Those who have crossed _

_ With direct eyes, to Death's other Kingdom" _

The number of dead grew every day. It was frightening to see the graphs that they would show on the news each night. Later, everything shut down, and there was nothing on the television anymore. We knew that if there was anyone to make graphs, they would be nothing compared to the charts of now (that was even terrifying).

There was a lot of debate over what happens when people die. With so many deaths each day, people wanted to be assured that there was nothing scary of the other side. Nothing conclusive was found, of course, but a lot of superstitions, both new and old, were propagated. Talismans, charms, lucky pennies and amulets, all guaranteed to let you pass into a better place when Death comes knocking.

People studied the Incans, Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese and Romans, trying to use ancient methods to ensure that they do not move on to Hell. 

People requesting to be buried with food, statues and amulets, or coins over their eyes.

_ "This is the dead land _

_ This is cactus land" _

There were not many of us left, in the end. We were all shipped off to the middle of the desert, far, far away from anyone and anything. We were separated for a month, to make sure that none of us had it before we were allowed to interact once again. Our existence seemed devoid of any real life. We were alive, but there was no purpose to our existence, no reason to be. 

We were told to stay away for five years - half a decade in watching the barren landscape, feeling the heat and the cold. It was dull, but we were alive, which was more then billions of other people could claim.

After a year Alfred got it.

_ "The only hope _

_ of empty men." _

No one knew how it could have possibly come this far, so we separated again. Forty-nine of us went separate ways, each carrying a flare so that when we got it, others would know to stay away. So they would know how many were left.

I counted them (sometimes I wish I hadn't).

Within a month I had seen forty-seven flares go up.

The sky was clear when I got it - the night silent and still.

So I thought:

_ "This is the way the world ends _

_ Not with a bang but with a whimper." _


End file.
